Composting question (hope this is the right spot)

[bossynbella]

We are wanting to start a compost pile with all the straw we have had out in the chicken run all year. Was wondering where we should put it at and just what has to be done to make a compost pile??

Do we just stick it in a pile somewhere??
Will it smell really bad??
What all can we put in there???
And what do we do with it later???

Thanks in advance
Melissa

 

[halo]

That should make wonderful compost. Just pile it up and let it cook. Will probably help if you can pile it up with a crater on the top, so when it rains it will stay moist in the inside. Wet it down as you pile it up, and it should be smokin in a day. Great stuff.

 

[professor-yellow]

During the cooler months I cover the pile with tarps and water with poultry water as I clean, duck water buckets and pool water and other liquids. Hay is full of nitrogen and burns hot. Straw has the carbon for the fuel. I have rabbits, ducks and chickens so I layer the pile carbon-nitrogen-carbon-nitrogen and so on. Start with straw or wood chip material then pile on the hay and produce scraps from the store ( I get 3 to 4 boxes of greens from the store every day. What the critters dont eat that day, goes onto the compost pile). I also collect several hundred pounds of coffee grounds from Starbucks each week from stores on the way home from work.

Layer this pile till its about 4 or 5 feet high then let it cook. In four weeks you can turn the pile. I actually make a new pile right next to the existing, putting the edges and noncomposted material right in the middle at the bottom.

I have four piles almost ready for the garden beds and raspberry rows. And my bamboo grove thrives on it. last year I started selling it by the five gallon bucket, and couldnt keep enough for myself.

Hope this helps.